Service discovery and access in vehicle-to-roadside multi-channel VANETs

A wide portfolio of safety and non-safety services will be provided to drivers and passengers on top of Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks (VANETs). Non-safety services are announced by providers, e.g., road-side units (RSUs), on a channel that is different from the one where the services are delivered. The dependable and timely delivery of the advertisement messages is crucial for vehicles to promptly discover and access the announced services in challenging vehicle-to-roadside scenarios, characterized by intermittent and shortlived connectivity. In this paper, we present an analytical framework that models the service advertisement and access mechanisms in multichannel vehicular networks. The model accounts for dual-radio devices, and computes the mean service discovery time and the service channel utilization by considering the disruption periods due to the switching of the RSU from the advertising channel (where announcements are transmitted) to the advertised channel (where services are exchanged), under different channel and mobility conditions. It provides quick insights on parameter settings to allow providers to improve service provisioning.